Huge slate of prep classics unfold tonight

Friday

Aug 24, 2012 at 12:49 AM

By Byron SaucerStaff writer

As nine county football teams prepare for their dress rehearsals tonight in the annual fall classics, Trinity Catholic High School will be pulling double duty.On the field, the Celtics are hosting Taylor County, but eyes may be drawn to the newest addition to the Marion County football scene as the school unveils its new video board behind the north end zone.The structure, which is 38-feet tall and 24-feet wide, was donated by FSU booster and local resident Al Dunlap. The retired businessman shelled out $96,000 to erect the state-of-the-art Al Dunlap Scoreboard for the two-time state champion Celtics.“It totally surprised me,” said Trinity head coach John Brantley III. “We're very fortunate at Trinity to have the support that we do. Mr. Dunlap's been tremendous over the last four or five years once he got involved with our program.”The Celtics have twice played at Florida high schools boasting video boards, with trips to Union County back in 2005 and again during their state title run in 2010 at Pensacola Catholic, but it's the first of its kind in Marion County.This year's version of Trinity's new toy won't be fully functional as far as what fans are used to seeing at college or professional venues. There won't be live coverage of action or replays shown on the big screen in 2012 as the school scrambles to find a crew capable of handling the tasks involved.Instead, fans can expect still photos of players, advertising and possibly replays of the previous week's games to dominate the screen. “Not this year,” Brantley said. “We want to work out the kinks and learn how the system works. And, there again, you've got to be careful with the FHSAA. If there's a disputed call or something, you don't want them up there (in the press box) replaying stuff like that and putting the officials in a bad spot.“I don't know the official capacity of what the 'tron does, but we're thrilled to find out.”Florida High School Athletics Association public relations specialist Corey Sobers said he wasn't aware of any rules limiting video board content, which should open the doors for the coveted replay capability as early as next season.But Celtics athletics director Tommy Bond isn't ready to put a timeline on the project. Bond says the school doesn't have the structure in place now, but he plans on enlisting a camera crew from the school's television production class to get the ball rolling.“If we did get to that point it would be great,” Bond said. “It's something we'll have to grow into. We need to have all the pieces to the puzzle in place.”The Celtics will also manage to play some football tonight as former Gainesville High coach Ryan Smith leads Taylor County into Ocala. The 4A school from Perry made the playoffs last season — losing a 42-41 heartbreaker to Yulee in the regional quarterfinals — and Brantley expects an even better Bulldogs squad to test his team tonight.“They're bringing about 60 players,” Brantley said. “Ryan Smith's their head coach now, who we faced at Gainesville High School, so we know we'll be in for a physical battle. There's probably not a better way to get ready for your regular season.”The varsity squads will play the first three quarters at Celtic Field tonight before turning it over to the freshmen and junior varsity in the fourth quarter.Florida schools will open their regular-season schedules next week.

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